Romance Novel Reviews
by Carla Kelly
The premise: Lord Ragsdale finds his American cousin gambling away all his money...and his indentured servant from Ireland. Though Anthony has no love for the Irish, he saves the girl, Emma Costello, from falling into the wrong hands. As payment for the debt, Emma agrees to reform the drunkard, lazy Lord.
The chemistry: I give Emma and John:
Sensuality:
Miscellaneous notes: The secret to the success of this book is John's true character. He's not a lout because that is his core personality, it's a defense mechanism on his part. Trust the lovely Emma to get down to the basics and make a man out of him.
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by Julia Quinn, Suzanne Enoch, Karen Hawkins, and Mia Ryan
The premise: Four short stories with an independent plot running through them all like a thread. Four couples meet and fall in love while Lady Neeley's ruby bracelet goes missing.
The chemistry:
Sensuality:
Miscellaneous notes: I enjoyed the way these stories were woven together much more than the original Lady Whistledown book. There were two love stories in here that were too similar and it felt like eating warmed-up left-overs. And, as usual, Ms. Quinn's dedication is quite humorous.
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by Mary Jo Putney
The premise: Stephen Kenyon, Duke of Ashburton, upon learning that he has only 3-6 months left to live due to a "tumefaction of the stomach and liver", flees his home and responsibilities. Fate finds him true love in a woman, Rosalind, who was orphaned at age 3 and adopted by two actors, Thomas and Maria Fitzgerald.
The chemistry: I give Stephen and Rosalind:
Sensuality:
Miscellaneous notes: While I did not hate this book, I found it quite...tiresome. Nothing in it struck my heart strings...aside from the prologue where Rosalind is adopted by the Fitzgeralds.
I was put off by the constant reminder that Stephen was dying. I couldn't count the number of times either he or Rosalind reflected on his impending death. Too many chapters ended with an activity being identified as 'perhaps the last time it would be shared between them.'
And, not meaning to ruin this for anyone (SPOILER ALERT), I just knew his brother's surgeon would save Stephen's life. Color me not impressed.
Quite honestly, I was more interested in the Fitzgeralds' romance and that of Michael and Catherine, Stephen's brother and sister-in-law.
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by Catherine Anderson
The premise: Annie Trimble, deafened at age 6 by a fever, is assumed by the world, her parents included, to be mentally retarded, and possibly mad. When Douglas Montgomery maliciously rapes and impregnates her, his brother, Alex, takes it upon himself to right his brother's wrong. He marries the girl in an attempt to save her reputation and raise the child as his own. Within a week of living with Annie, Alex and his staff discover that the woman is not dumb, she's simply deaf.
The chemistry: I give Alex and Annie:
Sensuality:
Miscellaneous notes: I knew this was a keeper from nearly the beginning. While I was wary of the rape in the plot, Ms. Anderson shies away from details, of which I was appreciative. While most of the book is from Alex's point of view, the times we get to see Annie's are truly priceless. The woman has been raised as an idiot, hidden from public view, and never treated as a human being by her parents. When she finds out that Alex and she are actually married, she is not so much upset at the plain fact that she was tricked into a marriage, but more put off that her married sisters received countless gifts and a beautiful dress at their weddings, yet Annie herself received nothing. Another favorite of mine is her thinking that her baby will be born just the way she's seen chickens born...from an egg. Each and every morning she rises and immediately searches her linens for the egg. This sounds ridiculous now that I type it, but in the spirit of the moment, Ms. Anderson writes a wonderfully innocent and naive woman, whom I adore dearly.
While I adored Annie, I absolutely fell head over heels in love with Alex. His love for this tiny, helpless creature overwhelms him and he does everything in his power to make up for her awful childhood. As they spend more time together, she becomes the most important thing in his life. He passionately wants to make love with her, yet the shadow of his brother, Douglas, looms between them. This is powerful, powerful stuff.
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by Carla Kelly
The premise: In a drunken stupor, Benedict Nesbitt, Duke of Knaresborough, agrees to help his friend, Eustace, by posing as a salesman in order to infiltrate the Ames' household and provide Eustace with intelligence on his intended bride, Lydia Ames. He ends up in a serious carriage accident and spends weeks convalescing under the care of Libby Ames and the town doctor, Anthony Cook.
The chemistry: I give Libby and her soon-to-be husband:
Sensuality:
Miscellaneous notes: It is quite difficult to explain this book without giving away the plot.
Suffice it to say, Libby, having assumed she would never marry, finds herself the recipient of marriage proposals from two suitors: the salesman and the doctor. As the book progresses, Libby learns more and more about the mysterious "salesman" and also her good friend Dr. Cook. I thoroughly enjoyed her progression into learning the truth about these two men.
Ms. Kelly's love for children and the child-like is obvious. Most of her books feature younglings who bring out the best in her characters. In this case, Joseph, Libby's brother who is "not right" after an unfortunate accident involving head trauma, brings to light for the reader exactly who is the real man in this story.
As a side note, the editing in this book was abhorrent. Misspelled words (andd), missing words, duplicated sentences... It was quite distracting as I could not help but start counting the mistakes. (I lost count, BTW.)
If you intend to read this book, do not read the next review.
Overall rating:
by Carla Kelly
The premise: Benedict Nesbitt, the very handsome 7th Duke of Knaresborough, is trying to better himself after losing the woman he loved to a fat, bumbling doctor. He (reluctantly) picks up a Spanish woman, Liria Valencia, and her child as they are walking by foot at the side of the road. While he originally sees her as just a servant with a bastard child, he grows to know her and her amazing story of tragedy and triumph.
The chemistry: I give Nez and Liria:
Sensuality:
Miscellaneous notes: The story behind Juan's conception was so incredibly grotesque that it ruined the book for me. I'm a lover of horror films and I adore psychological thrillers where the bad guy eats the victim's liver...but this was uncalled for in a romance novel. I'm a hardened ER nurse and even I felt nauseated. Plus, there really was no romance in this book. Nez and Liria developed a beautiful and strong friendship, but I felt no sparks what-so-ever.
As a side note, if you intend to read highly superior Libby's London Merchant (reviewed above), I suggest you read that first. One Good Turn decisively ruined the ending of its predecessor for me.
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by Carla Kelly
The premise: Omega Chartley, school teacher and spinster, takes a holiday in England. She happens along a runaway boy and takes him under her wing, only to find that the man to whom she is delivering him is the fiancé who left her at the altar 8 years ago.
The chemistry: I give Omega and Matthew:
Sensuality:
Miscellaneous notes: Not my favorite book, but a worth-while read. Just as in One Good Turn, the circumstances leading to Matthew's abandonment of his would-be bride were too disturbing for me to continue enjoying the book. After learning of what he did, even if the murder part was not his doing, I could not find myself genuinely liking this man. While Omega had it in her heart to forgive him, I did not.
While I generally respect Ms. Kelly's lack of heavy love scenes, this is one case where it would have been warranted. Matthew feels himself to be impotent. It would have been nice to see this tender scene play out where the woman he loves cures him of his ailment.
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by Deborah Simmons
The premise: Prudence Lancaster, a Gothic novelist, gets her chance to not only see up-close the towering abbey that has long inspired her, but also its devishly handsome owner, Sebastian Penhurst, Lord Ravenscar.
The chemistry: I give Pru and Sebastian:
Sensuality:
Miscellaneous notes: I can think of only one word to describe this book: 'insipid'. I don't dare waste any more time on it by writing a thorough review. Let's just say that Pru was a Mary Sue and leave it at that.
I finished reading this book only because of the supposed redemption plot. I guess Ms. Simmons' idea of redemption is a man ceasing to *uck anything that moves due to his lust for a bespectacled woman with ink stains on her hands.
If I ever hear or read the phrase 'grey gaze' again, I will throw myself off the roof of the nearest building.
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by Carla Kelly
The premise: Susan Hampton, daughter of of noble father who has gambled away her house and future, decides to hire herself out as a Lady's Companion. When she meets the bailiff, David Wiggins, a Welsh veteran with a seedy upbringing, her blue blood upbringing is questioned as she falls in love with him.
The chemistry: I give Susan and David:
Sensuality:
Miscellaneous notes: Carla Kelly is famous, in my mind, for her ability to produce a wonderfully fulfilling love story without hot, tawdry sex scenes. This book is a slight deviation from her norm. While the sexual interludes are not described in detail, Ms. Kelly does not shy away from Susan's natural curiosity about and eventual interest in the sexual act.
Ms. Kelly reminds me a bit of Dickens as she continually brings to light the true character of those in the upper classes. David may have been a bastard who grew up in a workhouse and had to lie, cheat and steal to survive, but he is much more the man than Susan's father, who eventually preys on Susan's dying employer and new husband for cash to keep him out of jail. It takes Susan a while to realize that marrying David is not prohibited due to her own upbringing as a lady of blue blood...it's what her heart wants that matters.
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by Mary Jo Putney
The premise: Lord Michael Kenyon falls in love with Mrs. Catherine Melbourne while billeting with her and her husband before a return to war. His strict code of honor prevents him from pursuing her, but what happens when her husband unexpectedly dies?
The chemistry: I give Michael and Catherine:
Sensuality:
Miscellaneous notes: I was prepared to love this book. Instead, I only liked it a lot. The UST between these two dragged on for waaay too long. Additionally, the convoluted plotting in the last third of the book was over the top for me. I disliked Clive, the "bad guy". As a villain, he was as two dimensional as they come.
However, the pain these two felt when they each thought their love was unrequited was delicious. I enjoyed learning about these two characters.
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by Adele Ashworth
The premise: Lady Caroline Grayson was born exceptionally intelligent in time when women were expected to be compliant, docile creatures. Her plans to study botany abroad in America are cut short when her father forces a marriage between her and Lord Weymerth. They both resent the marriage...at first.
The chemistry: I give Caroline and Brent:
Sensuality:
Miscellaneous notes: Ms. Ashworth's first mistake was making me hate Brent from the beginning. I found him to be arrogant and cruel, not lonely and hurting as he was meant to come across. Over time, I softened to him, but could never get over my initial impression of him.
A lot of Brent's epiphanies came, not through introspection, but through brow beating by relatives. It's amazing how those around our heroes know everything about them - their feelings and motives for their actions. I found these "heart to heart" talks very unrealistic and ultimately unsatisfying. It was a clear case of the author using characters as microphones into the story instead of leading the characters into their actions.
The final aspect of Ms. Ashworth's writing that bothered me was the ridiculous epilogue. We are to believe that this was all engineered by Caroline's teenage sister. I refuse to believe that people's lives can be orchestrated like a chess game.
All that being said, it was a decent read...just not a keeper in my book.
Overall rating:
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